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Leading UK charities have warned that hold-ups in probate grants are putting vital services and research in jeopardy, as grieving families face crippling delays obtaining legal authority to release funds from deceased relatives.
Charity executives said they were being denied timely access to a crucial source of funding, with bequests worth hundreds of millions of pounds in England and Wales stuck in bureaucratic limbo.
Cancer Research UK, which received £261mn in gifts from wills last year — its largest source of income — said the time taken to receive such funds had a “detrimental impact” on the charity “and our investment in life-saving research”. It believes that £34mn of its income is currently being held up.
Wait times were “far too long” and had “frustratingly hindered charitable activity”, it said in a submission published this week to the House of Commons justice select committee, which is holding an inquiry into probate delays.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also said the delays had “a huge impact” on the charity and the sector as a whole.
“The RSPCA does not believe the probate service has the necessary resources or expertise” to deal with applications, it said. The charity receives about £90mn from about 2,500 legacies each year, 60 per cent of its annual income.
The hit to charities is the latest sign that a logjam in probate processing by HM Courts & Tribunal Service is having a broad impact.
Extensive delays have caused some property sales to collapse as buyers give up on sellers who lack the legal authority to complete, estate agents have warned. Grieving families also risk interest payments on inheritance tax in some cases since the levy is due within six months of death.
Nick Goodwin, chief executive of HMCTS, told the Commons justice select committee this week: “The performance is being turned around. I do accept it has not been good enough.”
The applications backlog stood at more than 52,000 as of the end of last year, compared with fewer than 1,000 in 2012, according to data from the Institute of Legacy Management.
About £800mn in funds that are due to charities are awaiting a probate grant, according to estimates from the ILM and Remember a Charity, two groups that specialise in charitable bequests.
Lawyers said many families have experienced considerable delays and complain about telephone calls and emails going unanswered.
Goodwin defended a decision not to answer phone calls at certain times. “Many of those calls are from people chasing for progress,” he said. “The best service we can give is actually to get the job done.”
Charity executives said that even though they may eventually receive the funds that have been set aside for them in wills, the delays hindered cash flow and made it considerably harder to budget.
Matthew Lagden, chief executive of the ILM, said the body “used to advise members to expect an 18-month gap between death and the receipt of a gift” but, as a result of probate problems and other hold ups, including in the property market, “we now advise that it will take 24 to 36 months”.
Charities have become highly dependent on bequests from estates, whose value has risen thanks to a boom in asset prices, helping them offset pressure on general donations due to the cost of living squeeze.
HMCTS said that most probate applications are processed within 12 weeks. It was taking measures to increase the numbers of grants processed, including by hiring more staff.
In a statement it said: “We know how important donations left in wills are for charities and we are taking unprecedented steps to speed up the process. These are working and resulted in record numbers of grants being issued in the final three months of 2023.”
